In all the madness surrounding what the Chicago Bears will do at #1 overall this April, it is so easy to forget that GM Ryan Poles also has to figure out what he’ll do with the #9 pick. It is rare for teams to have two picks in the top 10 in one year without the aid of trading up. That is a credit to Poles’ work last off-season securing that lucrative trade with the Carolina Panthers. He has a golden opportunity to land not one but two blue-chip talents for his roster, setting the Bears up for a possible surge in 2024.
Draft insider Dan Brugler of The Athletic joined colleague Nate Tice on The Athletic Football Show to discuss how the top 12 picks could unfold. They both agreed it’s almost a foregone conclusion Chicago will take a quarterback at #1, with Caleb Williams being the heavy favorite. When it came to the 9th pick, it got interesting. Brugler believes the best course of action for Poles might not be what people would expect. In his mind, the best decision involves a tactic the Bears GM has utilized only once in his career.
Ryan Poles is not prone to moving up in a draft.
He’s only done it once in his career to this point. He traded spots in a draft seven times to this point. Six of them were down the board. The only time he moved up came in the 2nd round last year when the Bears pounced on cornerback Tyrique Stevenson. That move cost the team a 5th round pick, of which they had two at the time. Moving up for a wide receiver in the top 10 would be considerably more expensive. Brugler and Tice projected a 3rd round pick just to reach the #7 spot. Are any of these guys really worth it to Poles?
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If you trust draft evaluators, the answer is yes. Lance Zierlein is the primary scout for NFL.com. His big board of 2024 prospects has two men at the top: wide receiver Malik Nabers and wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. Fellow receiver Rome Odunze is #5. His pro comparisons for each? Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb, and Larry Fitzgerald. Hearing this makes it easier to understand why so many think the receivers could be gone in the first eight picks, hence the need for Ryan Poles to move up.
Would he do it? Poles is known for being disciplined and hasn’t invested heavily at wide receiver to this point. His biggest acquisition was D.J. Moore, courtesy of the trade down with Carolina. His others were Velus Jones (3rd round) and Tyler Scott (4th round). While taking a receiver at #9 is definitely plausible, trading up for one that high doesn’t seem like his style.
